Senior EMT (SEMT) agreement

In July, we shared the decision to end the Senior EMT (SEMT) agreement from 1 August 2023. We would like to take this opportunity to address some of the concerns raised since the previous communication.

We have heard the concerns raised by staff across multiple forums and have been in discussion with our recognised trade unions.

As a result of this we are happy to announce that the Trust will be extending the SEMT agreement for all staff currently employed in a band 4 AEMT, EMT or AAP role. The newly agreed criteria will be as follows:

• You must be employed by the Trust as an AEMT, EMT or AAP on or before 31 July 2023
• In order to progress toSEMT from 1 August 2023, you must meet the following criteria –
  • Be employed as a qualified EMT/AAP for 1 year. For our Apprentice colleagues, this will be 1 year following your EPA completion
  • Have completed and be able to provide evidence of completion of the Trust PEd course
  • Agree, in signing the HR2, to complete key e-learning and have a CPD portfolio

There will be no change to our current SEMTs, who will continue in the SEMT position until they move into another role or leave the Trust.

Anybody newly employed as an AEMT or qualified EMT from 1 August 2023 (including internal staff moving to EMT/AEMT contracts) will not be eligible for SEMT at any point in the future as the local Pay Banding Agreement for SEMT will cease from this point. Staff will be encouraged to uptake the internal clinical (or non-clinical) progression pathways that are available.

Additionally, from 1 August 2023 the following will also apply:

• Staff employed by EEAST as a band 5 SEMT who leave the Trust will not be eligible to take up a SEMT bank contract. All new bank contracts will be band 4 EMT only
• SEMT colleagues who wish to ‘retire and return’ from 1 August 2023 will be able to automatically return as SEMT if their break in service is no longer than 7 calendar days. Anything over 7 calendar days will be reviewed on an individual basis and should be discussed with the Recruitment team in the first instance
• EEAST will continue to only onboard band 4 EMTs from other Ambulance Trusts, even if they have been band 5 EMT in their previous Trust (this is a continuation of the current process)

We hope that this is welcome news to our EMT colleagues and we thank you for raising your concerns.

If you have any queries regarding any of the above, please discuss with your local manager, HRBP or email your query to HR.PayrollForms@eastamb.nhs.uk where a member of the team will respond to your query as quickly as possible.

Published 8th August 2023